I suggested to the committee that the ground plot of the village should be enlarged, so as to allow of back yards, with alleys between the yards. This done, the work went on apace, and soon a number of houses were built. There was an abundance of grass on the borders of the fields. I engaged a mat-maker from the city, and set him to instruct the women as well as men to make mats. At first some hesitated, as it was not according to their caste to do such work, but they soon fell in, and it was not long before every house had mats for its floors. Many of the people had slept on the ground from sheer laziness or custom. I had a carpenter make same cheap charpoys and then thick mats were made for them. It was a mat-making community for a while, as no one wished to be outdone by his neighbor. Then came the making of rude shelves, on which they could place their trinkets, and soon every house had such a cupboard. Then little low stools, with twine grass bottoms, on which they could sit cross-legged if they chose, instead of on the floor as formerly. The desire for these new things became contagious, and their eagerness gave us great amusement. My wife had offered to give the twine for the mats, the wood for the shelves, and the pictures for the walls, and still better than all that, she would give a looking-glass like the one she used, for each house when it was complete. This last offer took the cake, as every Eve’s daughter of them was bound to have a looking-glass, and gave her men folk no rest until they had built a house. I might have planned for days and nights together, before I could have caught on such a trick as effective as that. It was a woman’s instinct that did it. My advice and offer of ten rupees were nowhere compared to the looking-glass for the erection of new houses. The result of our model house suggestion was that within a year there was not an old house in all the village. Each one was in line, matted, shelved and pictured, and last but not least, judging by the expressive faces and appearance of the women, each house had its looking-glass. My other villages, seeing what was going on, became extremely jealous, and their committees called on me and asked what they had done to turn the hearts of the sahib and mem sahib away from them—to favor one village and not the others. I was greatly pleased with this sign of life, and after letting them talk a while, as each member of the committee had to tell his story of their regard for me, how anxious they were to please me, and how heartbroken they were to think that I had forgotten them.